How NASA's 1970s Vision of Space Colonies Inspired Neill Blomkamp's Elysium

Image: Elysium promo

The trailer for Elysium, the upcoming sci-fi flick from Neill Blomkamp, the guy who made District 9,  blew the minds of space nerds everywhere. And while it may be yet another entry in a promising string of dystopian sci-fi films—it will come on the heels of Oblivion and After Earth—it's probably the only one that was inspired by the space colonies NASA designed in the 1970s.
First, Elysium. The film promises to give the struggle of the have-nots the space opera treatment—the poor are stuck on a smoldering Earth, and the rich comfortably circle the planet tucked inside a luxurious space palace. Matt Damon, a poor sunburned Earth-dweller, has to climb the proverbial ladder between the two worlds. We're not quite sure why yet—all we know is he's going to have to fight some robots in the process.